New chef takes reins at Wente in Livermore

Mike Ward, formerly an executive chef for Tyler Florence, now heads The Restaurant at Wente Vineyards. (Photo by Wente)

The North Bay’s loss is the East Bay’s gain.

The Restaurant at Wente Vineyards in Livermore has announced a new executive chef, Mike Ward, whom they snagged from celebrity chef Tyler Florence’s El Paseo in Mill Valley.

Ward will take over the extensive operation now (Wente features not just estate-grown wines but also estate-raised beef and estate-grown produce) and spend the summer working with master gardener Diane Dovholuk and sommelier Jorge Tinoco.

He will introduce his new menus in September.

This will be Ward’s third executive chef gig. Before El Paseo, he ran the kitchen at Sacramento County’s noted Slocum House, a farm-to-table restaurant in a bucolic Fair Oaks setting. He previously worked in a number of top New York kitchens, including the Michelin-starred Picholine.

Born in Chester near Lake Almanor in Northern California, Ward spent his childhood in Arizona, then returned to the Golden State. After just one semester of culinary classes at American River College in Sacramento, he was hooked on a career in professional kitchens.